His reign however, was soon disturbed, first by a Danish, or Norwegian invasion in the north, beaded by Harfager, or Helfager king of Norway, aided by Harold’s own worthless brother Tosti; and shortly after by a French invasion in the south, under William the bastard, Duke of Normandy. The former Harold opposed with success; the invaders were defeated with great slaughter, and the two chiefs, Harfager and Tosti, fell in the action. Great and rich booty is said to have fallen into the hands of the victors, including a considerable quantity of gold. Here Harold appears to have committed a great error, and to have departed most unwisely and unaccountably from his usual policy, by retaining all the spoil for himself, instead of sharing it with his soldiers, which excited great discontents among them, and proved afterwards, in no small measure, detrimental to his cause. No sooner had the English monarch triumphed over the first invaders than he learnt that the Duke of Normandy with a great army had made good his landing in Sussex. He immediately commenced his march against that fierce and formidable adversary, with an army greatly reduced by the late bloody, though successful conflict, and rendered discontented by his own impolitic and unwise conduct, already mentioned. Yet notwithstanding those disadvantages, so rapid was his progress from Yorkshire to Sussex, that he actually arrived within sight of his enemies before they had proceeded but a little way from the place of debarkation. It had been better, no doubt, had he taken more time, to refresh and recruit his army, or acted on the defensive, for sometime at least, which could hardly have failed of being very materially to his advantage, as he was then circumstanced. But so impetuous was he, and resolute to bring the contest to a speedy termination, that he absolutely rejected the wholesome counsel given him by one of his brothers, to adopt a different course. To his opponent this must have been perfectly agreeable, and the very thing he wanted, as nothing could have been less his interest than a defensive war on the part of the English, or to find in Harold another _Fabius_. Both parties accordingly prepared for a speedy and decisive engagement. The two armies are said to have spent the preceding night very differently: the English impiously passed it in riot and revelry; but the Normans, good creatures! were all the time occupied in the duties of religion; for which, to be sure, from the nature of their errand, and the object of their visit, they must have been preeminently qualified! This story, we may presume, was fabricated afterwards by the monks and priests and Norman historians, who were in the interest of the Conqueror, and wished to pay their court to the reigning family. Be that as it might, the battle of Hastings forms a memorable era in the history of this country. Both armies fought with desperate valour, as if determined